💡 To use resources 👆 To touch lightly 👆 A light touch 🚰 A faucet 🎧 To listen secretly 🎧 Secret listening 👞 To dance with taps 👞 Metal shoe plates 🌳 To draw liquid 💳 To pay by touch 🔩 Thread-cutting tool 🔩 To cut threads

to tap

44 4.1

To make rhythmic sounds with the feet when dancing

verb
/tæp/

: bailar claqué

I WANNA LEARN TO COOK, I WANNA LEARN TO LAUGH, AND I WANNA TAP DANCE.
tap dance
tap the beat
tap a rhythm

And, you know, I had to learn how to tap dance for this role.

Autoplay Next

Examples

Come on, you're tap dancing now.

A Haunting in Venice (2023)
While some students perform their lines, have others tap or clap the beat.

Academic text (2002)
As students walk or tap the beat, they listen to the teacher play the melody.

Academic text (2003)
Let's tap dance up these stairs.

Kidnapped (2021)
Scarlett's foot began involuntarily to tap the beat under cover of her skirts.

Fiction book (1991)
The performers showcased their talent by tapping rhythmically across the stage.
As they practiced their routine, I watched them tap dance to the lively music.
She wore special shoes that made a sharp tapping sound with every step.

Synonyms

to dance

vsto tap

∞ 1.0

To move your body in time to music

is narrower, meaning making clear rhythmic foot sounds rather than general movement

to clog

vsto tap

1 8.5

To dance with heavy stamping while wearing wooden shoes

is broader and includes other shoes or walking that produce rhythmic foot sounds

to hoof

vsto tap

Archaic

1 9.0

To dance energetically on stage

is used more broadly for making rhythmic foot sounds not only for pros

to tapdance

vsto tap

3.4

To move the feet to make a rhythm with small metal plates on special shoes

is the general term covering this technique and walking that makes such sounds

to steppin'

vsto tap

Informal

8.4

Move your feet in time with music as a dance

focuses specifically on producing audible foot sounds with special shoes

Idioms

on tap

7 3.4

Drinks like beer or water served from a tap

on tap

5 3.7

Ready to use when needed

Phrasal Verbs

to double tap

Texting

3 3.5

Tap twice quickly on a touchscreen to start a function

to tap out

1 4.4

To touch something lightly with fingers or an object to make a rhythm

to tap the screen

1 2.8

Touch the screen lightly with your finger to choose or open something

to tap out

Texting

1 5.3

To type a short message by pressing keys or the screen quickly

to tap the keg

Informal

1 6.1

To start pouring beer from a keg by attaching something that lets beer flow

Compounds

tap water

27 1.0

Water that comes from a tap used for drinking or cooking

tap on

14 2.7

A light touch or knock to get someone's attention

spinal tap

Specialized

9 5.8

To remove fluid from the lower back with a needle for testing

tap dancing

5 3.0

A dance where shoes with metal plates make a rhythm when the feet hit the floor

tap dancer

5 3.5

A person who makes music by hitting the floor with metal plates on their shoes while moving their feet

tap dance

4 3.0

A dance where the feet make tapping sounds using shoes with metal plates

water tap

1 1.0

A thing that controls the flow of water from a pipe

bidet tap

8.3

A tap that sprays water for washing after using the toilet

champagne tap

7.9

A small tool that pours champagne from a bottle into glasses

tap dance performance

3.7

A dance where dancers make rhythmic sounds by hitting the floor with metal plates on their shoes

tap wrench

Specialized

7.3

A tool that holds and turns a tap to cut screw threads inside a hole

tap house

4.3

A bar that sells beer, often from its own brewery

tap-off

Jargon

7.4

The jump ball that starts a basketball game

How Loud

to stomp

144 2.9

to tap

44 4.1

to step

∞ 1.0

to tiptoe

44 3.1

Surface Forms

tap infinitive

tapped past

tapped past participle

tapping present participle

taps third person singular

Etymology

Tap for dancing comes from the tapping sound shoes make; to tap is to move so your feet make quick, rhythmic sounds on the floor.